In spite of the fact that we had not been able to go as far as we (p. 297)
had intended, another glorious victory was to our credit, and we had
broken the far-famed Drocourt-Queant line with its wire entanglements
which the Germans had thought to be impregnable. Two days afterwards,
on September 4th, our Division was taken out of the line and sent back
for rest and reorganization.
CHAPTER XXXIII. (p. 298)
PREPARING FOR THE FINAL BLOW.
_September, 1918._
Our Divisional Headquarters were now established in the delightful old
chateau at Warlus. In Nissen huts near-by, were the machine-gun
battalion and the signallers, and, as I had one end of a Nissen hut
all to myself, I was very comfortable. The three infantry brigades
were quartered in the villages round about. The engineers and
artillery were still at the front. As usual our men soon cleaned
themselves up and settled down to ordinary life, as if they had never
been through a battle in their lives. The weather was very pleasant,
and we were all glad at the prospect of a little quiet after the
strenuous month through which we had passed. Our concert party at once
opened up one of the large huts as a theatre, and night after night
their performances were witnessed by crowded and enthusiastic
audiences. Just across a field towards Bernaville the 15th Battalion
was quartered in a long line of huts and in the village itself were
the 14th and 16th Battalions. I was therefore quite near the men of my
old 3rd Brigade. The 16th Battalion concert party gave a fine
performance there one evening, which was attended by some Canadian
Sisters who came up from one of our C.C.S's. The play was called, "A
Little Bit of Shamrock," and was composed by members of the concert
party. It was exceedingly pretty and very clever, and evoked thunders
of applause. The Colonel was called upon for a speech, and, although
his words were few, the rousing cheers he got from his men told him
what they thought of their commanding officer, who soon afterwards was
to be awarded the Victoria Cross. As one sat there in the midst of the
men and thought of what they had gone through, and how the flames in
the fiery furnace of war had left their cheery souls unscathed, one's
heart was filled with an admiration for them which will never die.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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